Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Cheese Stuffed Peppadew Stuffed Buns #BreadBakers

Cheese stuffed Peppadew stuffed buns are fluffy with a savory surprise on the inside. They are super easy to make and would be a fun addition to your holiday meal or summer barbecue.


My neighborhood grocery store has a decent deli counter for such a small place. You can walk all the way around it, cheeses on one side, whole smoked turkey breasts and salami, etc. for slicing on another side, along with hot and cold prepared dishes sold by weight. My favorite side by far offers a colorful assortment of marinated stuff: olives, baby octopus, roasted artichoke hearts, lemons, anchovies and peppers, just to name a few.

Even the tasty Peppadews come in three versions, filled with Parmesan, feta or blue cheese. This month my Bread Bakers are creating delicious breads with peppers and it occurred to me that a festive Peppadew peeking from within a soft bun would be a very good idea. I was not wrong.

This recipe is adapted from one on the King Arthur website, meant to make 24 relatively quick yeasty dinner rolls.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon yeast, instant preferred
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup or 60ml warm water
1 cup or 240ml warm milk
3 to 3 1/2 cups or 375- 440g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
12 cheese stuffed Peppadews

Method
Measure the yeast, butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl or into the bowl of your stand mixer. Add in the warm water and milk and set aside for 6 to 8 minutes or until you see foam forming in the bowl. If you don’t see the yeast foaming, throw the whole thing out and go and buy some new yeast.

Add the salt and 2 1/2 cups or 312g of the flour to the bowl and mix in well. It’s going to be quite wet still.



If you are using a stand mixer, switch over to the dough hook and add a tablespoon of flour at a time with the mixer running, until you have a soft dough. Otherwise, add it and mix in with a wooden spoon.

Knead with the machine or by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic. Make a ball with the dough and drizzle the olive oil into your bowl.

Put the dough ball back in and turn it around a couple of times to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with some cling film or a damp cloth and set in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Lay a couple of layers of paper towels out on a small plate and line the stuffed Peppadews up to drain, first cheese side down, then cheese side up. You don’t want to lose your cheese filling, just to get rid of most of the marinating oil.



Bonus: Use the marinating oil that’s left behind in your deli container as a salad dressing, mixed with a little lime or lemon juice.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut it into 12 equal pieces. You can, of course, eyeball this but I have a digital scale I love so I weigh the whole dough ball, then divide by 12 to figure out how big each piece should be and weigh the bits as I cut them off.

Roll your dough pieces into balls.

Use a rolling pin to roll each ball into a circle and place a stuffed Peppadew cheese side down on the circle.



Gather up the sides of the dough circle and pinch them together to enclose the pepper securely.



Put the bun pinched side down on your baking pan. Which means, that the Peppadew is cheese side up again inside the bun. I lined my baking pan with a silicone mat but you could also use baking parchment.

Continue rolling and filling and pinching until all 12 buns are done.



Cover the baking pan lightly with cling film and allow to rise at room temperature for about 20 minutes. (Assuming your room temperature isn’t too cold – if you are baking in the dead of winter and your house is cold, find a warm spot to leave them.)

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°F.

Bake the buns for about 20-25 minutes or until they are nicely risen and golden brown all over.



Remove from the oven and allow to cool. If you choose to serve these warm, keep in mind that the Peppadew and cheese will be very hot and might burn you as you bite into them.



Enjoy!

Many thanks to our host this month, Sue of Palatable Pastime. I know folks who grow their own peppers are enjoying an abundant crop this time of year so I’m sure they’ll welcome our creative recipes for using those peppers up. Check them out!

BreadBakers
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.


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Sunday, August 7, 2016

Grilled Corn Ravioli Caprese Salad

Nothing shouts summer like a Caprese salad with lovely deep red, vine-ripened tomatoes, except perhaps a grilled corn ravioli Caprese salad. The smokey sweet corn adds more summer sunshine and the ravioli make this tasty dish more filling.


I love corn on the cob cooked anyhow you’d like to cook it. Boiled, steamed, grilled, roasted - love them all. I could cook a pot of fresh corn on the cob and eat the whole thing and call it a meal, no other dishes necessary. But for this week’s Sunday Supper theme of summer corn, that hardly sounded like a recipe worth sharing.

Cook corn on the cob.
Slather with butter.
Sprinkle with salt.
Eat.
Repeat.

So I had to get creative. Inspiration struck when I came across a package of fresh Italian ravioli called Girasole or sunflowers. They were shaped like flowers, the outside pasta cut like tiny petals, and were filled with tomato, mozzarella and olives. They would be perfect for adding to a Caprese salad, topped with grilled sweet corn! You can certainly use whatever ravioli you have available, though I'd avoid ones with meat or seafood if you are serving this at room temperature and need to leave it unrefrigerated for a while.

Grilled Corn Ravioli Caprese Salad

Recipe Type: Salad
Author: Stacy Rushton
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Vine-ripened tomatoes layered with ravioli, fresh mozzarella and basil, then topped with grilled sweet corn. Like summer should always be.

Ingredients
  • 1 package - about 9 oz or 250g fresh ravioli
  • 4-5 ripe summer tomatoes
  • 2 small ears sweet corn on the cob
  • 9 oz or 250g fresh mozzarella
  • small bunch fresh basil
  • sea salt for salad plus more for water to boil ravioli
  • black pepper
  • good extra virgin olive oil
Method
Boil the ravioli according to package instructions, in salted water. Drain and cover with a damp cloth to keep the ravioli from drying out. If you are a perfectionist - as I can be sometimes - count the ravioli. Now you know how many slices to cut the tomatoes and mozzarella into to make it all come out even.


Grill the corn on grill pan over a medium high heat until it has lovely grill marks all over. Turn every couple of minutes till done. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. When the cobs are cool enough to handle, cut the niblets off with a sharp knife.

Slice your tomatoes and your mozzarella. (See comment on ravioli above.)

Pick the leaves off of the basil and discard the stalks. Set aside the smallest ones for garnish and cut any large ones in two.


On a large platter, start arranging your salad: ravioli, mozzarella, tomato, basil. Repeat until you have used up all of your ingredients.


Sprinkle on the corn and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Give the whole salad a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil then sprinkle on the remaining basil.



Enjoy! 


If you love sweet summer corn, you are going to love the line up my Sunday Supper family has for you today! Many thanks to Ellen from Family Around the Table who is our host this week, and our event manager, Renee of Renee's Kitchen Adventures.

Appetizers
Breakfast and Salads
Side Dishes
Main Dishes
Desserts


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Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Pineapple Pink Lemonade Shaved Ice #FoodieExtravaganza

Pineapple pink lemonade shaved ice: Make some naturally pink lemonade with pineapple especially for shaved ice or popsicles. Shaved ice melting on your tongue and a cold, cold spoon against your cheek are one of the great joys of summer.


A few weeks ago I shared a nostalgic recipe for Sunday Supper, pink lemonade with crushed pineapple. It was something my grandmother liked to serve when we were visiting. I think it fancied up a meal to have a special drink.

While a cold glass of pink lemonade with pineapple is ideal on a hot summer day, it cannot beat the same made into shaved ice. Many years ago a friend gave our family a very simple shaved ice maker when she arrived for a holiday visit. It came with three little tubs that you could fill with the juice or the liquid of your choice, stack and freeze. At first I always had a couple in the freezer, at the ready. And then, as often happens, the novelty wore off – I think one or more international moves got in the way too – and the ice shaver was neglected.


After I made the natural pink pineapple lemonade, the old ice shaver was hunted down and exhumed and put back into use! For those who are interested, mine was made by Pampered Chef. They still sell them, if you can find a Pampered Chef rep in your area. An Amazon search reveals many ice shavers on the market.

Ingredients for one 2 quart or 1.89 liter pitcher
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
1 (15 oz or 425g)crushed pineapple in light syrup
1 1/2 cups or 355ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup or 177ml (or more to color to your liking) cranberry or pomegranate juice

Special equipment: Shaved ice maker

Note: If you can only find the crushed pineapple in heavy syrup, you might be able to skip making the simple syrup. The heavy pineapple syrup should sweeten the lemonade enough without additional sugar.

Method
Make simple syrup by dissolving the sugar in 1/2 cup or 120ml of hot water. Set aside to cool.

In your large pitcher, combine the crushed pineapple with its syrup and lemon juice. Add some ice and water to almost fill your pitcher. Remember that you need room for the cranberry or pomegranate juice and some simple syrup. Stir well.

Add the red juice and taste the lemonade.


Add enough of the simple syrup till it’s sweet enough for your liking. (See note above if using crushed pineapple in heavy syrup.)

To make the shaved ice, give the lemonade a vigorous stir and pour it into the little vessels that come with the shaved ice maker. Cover with the provided lids and pop them in the freezer.

Set a timer for 30 minutes and 1 hour. Each time your timer rings, give the little lemonade containers a shake to redistribute the crushed pineapple as the lemonade begins to set. Depending on the efficacy of your freezer, you might have to give it a third shake. Then freeze till solid.

To remove the frozen lemonade from the little plastic bowl, run it briefly under warm water.

Put a bowl under the ice shaver and put the lemonade into the top. Fix the handle by squeezing the spring closed and screw the top on to the bottom.


Turn the handle to shave the ice into the bowl. Easy peasy; it takes mere seconds. That blade inside is sharp so do be careful not to leave the ice shaver around where children can reach it. And store it up high, some place safe.


Each cylinder of lemonade makes two bowls like you see pictured. When you can't shave any more, remove the handle and scoop out the small sliver of remaining pineapple lemonade.



The pineapple adds lovely flavor and texture and the lemonade is so refreshing. Don't forget to hold the cold, cold spoon to your cheek or fevered brow occasionally as you eat. :)

Enjoy!



Summertime is the best time for lemonade! In fact, National Lemonade Day is celebrated each year on August 20th.  My Foodie Extravaganza group is bring you our recipes a little early so you can plan ahead! Many thanks to Lauren of Sew You Think You Can Cook for hosting this month.

Check out all the lovely lemonades and lemonade-inspired recipes you have to choose from:


Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays or shares recipes with the same ingredient or theme every month.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook group Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

If you're a reader looking for delicious recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out here.

Pin Pineapple Pink Lemonade Shaved Ice!

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